MaryC

Vera, Rick Steves says the same thing about tearing up guidebooks to cut down on luggage space, but I really like your idea of then pasting the pages into a journal. Excellent!!

charlie

Lynn,<BR>you sound like a dreamy US traveller, esp the bit about local sports. I will be more than happy to welcome you to the UK, and I imagine you will compare favoutably to the considerable number of your compatriots who consider everything cute. Yes, I've seen you in Soho, culprits

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daph

If going straight from London to Paris or the reverse, take Eurostar. We took British Rail and a ferry Dover-Calais and it was a tortuous voyage of 11 1/2 hours, with many train changes, bus rides and long waits for connections, not to mention lifting luggage up and down train, station and bus steps and ferry "shutes". Before Eurostar things were more direct but now it is a nightmare.

anon

ttt

Forever

Hmmm. What I learned from this board.<BR><BR>1. It has good information but you'd better print it out because the editors will delete it quickly. They don't appreciate good suggestions appearing on their board.<BR><BR>2. There really are good people who try to help who get turned off quickly by the arrogance of Fodors.<BR><BR>3. There are other great travel message boards out there that are much better managed than this one.<BR><BR>4. Rex is a saint. He works hard to help people like me but gets flamed for his efforts.<BR><BR>5. The most important thing I learned is that this board is a waste of my time. It's like a strip show. It gets my juices flowing but when I want to do more, the owner pulls the attraction (in this case, a useful post) and leaves me totally frustrated.

Lewis

Saw a good #11 recently<BR>When you pack, put some of your clothes in her suitcase and vice versa, just in case 1 of the suit cases gets lost, you'll at least have some clothes to wear.

Tim

This is fun. From my recent whirlwind visit:<BR><BR>(10) Pack everything in one overnight bag. That means, among other things,<BR><BR>(9) Leave the hairdryer at home. Three out of four hotels have them at the desk -- the fourth one gives you an exercise in Getting Over It.<BR><BR>(8) Pack Last Chance Throwaway underwear. We didn't think of that, but in hindsight it's a good idea.<BR><BR>(7) Second Class is fine -- EXCEPT on EuroStar and overnight couchettes (6 berths).<BR><BR>(6) Pay for food with CASH from the ATMs. Use the Credit Card for hotels and travel tickets only.<BR><BR>(5) Take ONE pair of good walking shoes -- the ones you get on the plane with. <BR><BR>(4) Go ahead and wear jeans -- many Europeans do. In any case, wear pants with Front Pockets so you can put your wallet up front. (It may spoil your &quot;fashion profile&quot; a little, but it's worth it and more comfortable than the Money Belt.)<BR><BR>(3) Take a digital camera, snap everything, and delete half your pics every week or so. It'll pay for itself with all the film you don't buy. A $50 memory card can store 400-500 pics AFTER you've tossed the 500 bad ones. Better yet, buy a SMALL camcorder (mini-DV).<BR><BR>(2) Use the Eurail passes for travel if you're there for less than two weeks.<BR><BR>(1) No matter what country you're in, take five minutes practicing &quot;Good Day,&quot; &quot;Good Afternoon,&quot; &quot;Please&quot; and &quot;Thank you&quot; in the local tongue. Then say &quot;Good Day&quot; and &quot;Thank you&quot; every time you enter/leave a shop.

Mary1

Keep a travel journal-its amazing how much can be &quot;forgotten&quot;.
Learn some of the language.
NEVER go AI in the Caribbean.
Find out all you can about the country before going- by going onto Fodors everyday for months beforehand.
Buy sleeping tablets at Bangkok airport for a much easier flight home.

artstuff

May we pass these tips on, which we learned from experience -

1. Trim your toenails a day before leaving on your trip.

2. Pack a roll of duct tape - it fixes everything from a torn hem, to a broken suitcase to a sprained ankle.

3. Carry a mini flashlight with you at all times. We use it in old castles/buildings/churches to illuminate things we want to see better.

4. Keep a journal and carry a glue stick with you to paste in ticket stubs, business cards, little pictures, etc.

5. Pack a large garbage bag to put over your luggage in case you get caught in the rain.

6. Bring bottled water with you on the plane, then reuse the empty bottle throughout the trip, filling it with tap water.

7. Carry a small roll of toilet paper with you, or tissues in a pouch, just in case...

8. Plan, plan, plan, plan, plan. If you're not travelling, you should be planning for your next trip (or reminiscing about previous ones).

9. Take the spoon out of the coffee cup before smoking a joint in a coffeehouse in Amsterdam.

10. Make sure you know the name and address of your hotel before you go out and explore the area (this actually happened to our friends, they were lost for 4-5 hours!)

Enjoy your travels.....Peace.
Robyn &amp; B.J.

CarolA

I would like to second the make sure you know where the hotel is. I lost my hotel in Cordoba. However, the postive side was I saw a LOT of the city on my search.

For those of you worried about digital storeage there are a couple of things I have read. 1. Have CDs burned in Europe. This appears to be fairly common.
2. (My method) I am taking my IPOD and bought a Media reader for it that I can transfer the photos onto the IPOD. NOTE: You cannot view the photos on my IPOD, it does not have digital viewing.

mcgeezer

I've learned many wonderful things from all the extremely generous people who post here. Many times I've not even had to ask the question because it has been asked and answered so many times previously.
Thank you all so much. I'll be leaving for Prague, Vienna and Budapest in three weeks and I'm excited.
The number one most helpful thing I've learned here is about taking trains and the best websites to glean more information.
#2 is by far the tip about washing clothes in a Zip Lock bag. That is really handy.
#3 If you can't sleep on an airplane the chances are very good that the other travelers who are awake are Fodorites.

Here are a couple of tips of my own:
Instead of bringing a roll of duct tape wrap some around an ink pen or small flashlight.
If you're not used to walking a lot bring moleskins with you for the blisters.
Dr. Bronners liquid soap makes a great foot soak after a long day.
Thanks and Blessings to all.